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Essay / The Importance of Beliefs in Othello - 858
For there to be a lie, a relationship must involve someone who judges or believes. Russell uses Othello as an example in this relationship "Desdemona's love for Cassio". This does not really exist, what exists is the relationship of Othello's mind with the objects of belief which are Desdemona, loving, Cassio and Othello, it is a four-term relationship. Belief is Othello's relationship with all these terms, his act of believing unites all these terms into a complex whole. Belief is what connects the objects or “constituents” Cassio, Desdemona and magnet with the judge or object Othello. There is also a direction or order in which objects are placed, which is recognized by "Cassio loves Desdemona" being a different statement from "Desdemona loves Cassio". In the statement “Othello believes that Desdemona loves Cassio,” it is not love that forms the complex but the way the object relates to the subjects that creates the complex unity. In this case, it is Othello's act of believing that cements the relationship between object and subjects. subject and objects. This leads Russell to the conclusion that beliefs are true when they correspond to an associated complex and false when they do not. This is the nature of truth. The constituents are put in order and united by a relationship which in the case of Othello is “Lovers” who are also the objects of belief. This complex unit is called “fact-corresponding-belief,” meaning that statements are true when and if there are corresponding facts.